A variety of implantable medical devices (IMDs) for delivering a therapy have been clinically implanted or proposed for clinical implantation in patients. Some implantable medical devices may employ one or more elongated electrical leads carrying stimulation electrodes, sense electrodes, and/or other sensors. Implantable medical devices may deliver therapy or monitor conditions with respect to a variety of organs, nerves, muscle or tissue, such as the heart, brain, stomach, spinal cord, pelvic floor, or the like. Implantable medical leads may be configured to allow electrodes or other sensors to be positioned at desired locations for delivery of electrical stimulation or sensing of physiological conditions. For example, electrodes or sensors may be carried at a distal portion of a lead. A proximal portion of the lead may be coupled to an implantable medical device housing, which may contain circuitry such as signal generation circuitry and/or sensing circuitry.
Some IMDs, such as cardiac pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), provide therapeutic electrical stimulation to the heart via electrodes carried by one or more implantable leads. The electrical stimulation may include signals such as pacing pulses, cardioversion shocks, or defibrillation shocks to address abnormal cardiac rhythms such as bradycardia, tachycardia, or fibrillation. In some cases, an IMD may sense intrinsic depolarizations of the heart to identify normal or abnormal rhythms. Upon detection of an abnormal rhythm, the device may deliver an appropriate electrical stimulation signal or signals to restore or maintain a more normal rhythm. For example, in some cases, an IMD may deliver pacing pulses to the heart upon detecting tachycardia or bradycardia, and deliver cardioversion or defibrillation shocks to the heart upon detecting tachycardia or fibrillation.
Leads associated with an IMD typically include a lead body containing one or more elongated electrical conductors that extend through the lead body from a connector assembly provided at a proximal lead end to one or more electrodes located at the distal lead end or elsewhere along the length of the lead body. The conductors connect stimulation and/or sensing circuitry within an associated IMD housing to respective electrodes or sensors. Some electrodes may be used for both stimulation and sensing, while other electrodes may be dedicated to only stimulation or only sensing. Each electrical conductor is typically electrically isolated from other electrical conductors, and is encased within an outer sheath that electrically insulates the lead conductors from body tissue and fluids.
Cardiac lead bodies tend to be continuously flexed by the beating of the heart. Other stresses may be applied to the lead body during implantation or lead repositioning. Patient movement can cause the route traversed by the lead body to be constricted or otherwise altered, causing stresses on the lead body. The electrical connection between implantable medical device connector elements and the lead connector elements can be intermittently or continuously disrupted. Connection mechanisms, such as set screws, may be insufficiently tightened at the time of implantation, followed by a gradual loosening of the connection. Also, lead pins may not be completely inserted. In some cases, changes in leads or connections may result in intermittent or continuous changes in lead impedance.
Short circuits, open circuits or significant changes in impedance may be referred to, in general, as lead-related conditions. In the case of cardiac leads, sensing of an intrinsic heart rhythm through a lead can be altered by lead-related conditions. Structural modifications to leads, conductors or electrodes may alter sensing integrity. Furthermore, impedance changes in the stimulation path due to lead-related conditions may affect sensing and stimulation integrity for pacing, cardioversion, or defibrillation. In addition to lead-related conditions, conditions associated with sensor devices or sensing circuitry, as well as conditions associated with electrodes or sensors not located on leads, may affect sensing integrity. Lead-related conditions, electromagnetic interference (EMI), myopotentials caused by patient movement, or other noise sources may affect sensing integrity. Cardiac events that are falsely detected may be referred to as oversensed cardiac events.